Some find solace in faith as hunt for family continues

Hope. Love. Light. A picture card of the family, at Thursday night's candlelight vigil in Parkhill for missing Nathan O'Brien, 5, and his grandparents, Alvin and Kathy Liknes.

Photograph by: Valerie Fortney
, Calgary Herald

She stands over a large steaming pot, breathing in the heady aromas of sweet and savoury.

“It’s called Indonesian breakfast,” says Kartini Gowralli as she stirs what looks like rice pudding. “It is hard to resist.”

Gowralli is serving up the dish to thousands Thursday morning at the Best of the East Stampede breakfast in Forest Lawn. But she won’t take even one bite for herself.

“It is Ramadan, we eat and drink before sunrise and not again until after sunset,” she says of the Muslim holy month of fasting and spiritual reflection. “It is good for the body, the mind and the soul.”

As I chat with the friendly owner of Indonesian Kitchen about her faith, I realize it’s a word I’ve been hearing — and thinking about — a lot these past several difficult days.

Five minutes down the road from where she’s serving her food, police are starting their search of a second landfill, another day picking through garbage through the summer heat in the hope of finding any evidence that will shed light on the disappearance 11 days ago of Kathy and Alvin Liknes and their five-year-old grandson Nathan O’Brien.

In the mist of such ugliness, it seems that faith would be something hard to grasp, yet so needed.

In these difficult times, it is not surprising that many are looking to bolster their faith.

“Nathan’s teachers from John Costello are here every day,” Father Julian Studden of St. Michael’s Church tells me later that morning when I get to my office phone. “The community feels very upset, very hurt, very betrayed.”

Last week, Studden, whose church baptized Nathan two years ago, began a Novena — a Catholic tradition of nine days of prayer — to support the family.

“The best we can do is pray together, support one another,” says Studden, who has conducted a prayer service at the home of the O’Briens and is planning — “unless things change,” he says hopefully — another vigil on July 22 at his church.

Pastor John Van Sloten of New Hope Church readily admits that times such as this can challenge even the most devout believers.

“This is the perpetual sermon, ‘Where is God in all of this, and if there is a God, how could God possibly allow this?’ ” says the popular pastor, whose sermons frequently touch on current events such as the Brentwood murders in April.

“We have moments where it’s just so bad you throw your hands up in the air,” says Van Sloten, who was particularly touched by some of the faith-based comments Rod O’Brien made last week in his message to his missing son at a police news conference. “I’m OK with that, doubt is a part of faith.”

In the afternoon, I stop by the home of Lorna Wendzina, friend and neighbour to Kathy and Alivn Liknes. As she gathers up hundreds of candles for a candlelight vigil in the evening at the Parkhill Stanley Park Community Association, she tells me about the importance of showing faith and strength for their loved ones.

“We are all emotionally drained,” says Wendzina, who credits Kathy’s close friend Carol Kilthau for coming up with the idea to hold the vigil. “This vigil is about hope and community, strength in numbers … so they know we’re there to support them.”

By evening, faith and hope abound on the grass outside the community association hall, as hundreds of people — from all over the city, from all walks of life and ages — gather around the relatives of the missing couple and their adorable little grandson.

One by one, relatives and friends walk up to the podium to share their thoughts on the beloved couple who are missing, the sweet and friendly little boy so desperately missed. It is at once heartbreaking and hopeful, this open air church where people come together to comfort and offer hope.

For Jennifer O’Brien, the show of support is what she needed to keep the faith, to not give up on the hope that her loved ones will return.

“This is what’s keeping us strong, it’s your prayers,” she tells the crowd. “That’s what keeps our family strong.

“We’re very hopeful that they’re out there — there’s no doubt in our minds. We’ve just got to find them … I hope this ends up to be a happy story.”

Hope. Love. Light. The three words, written at the top of a picture board of her family made by a friend, are more than just words to Jennifer O’Brien and her family. They are life-preservers.

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